Electrical distribution system



J. E. P. BURGE Filed March I, 1946 ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM n 8 2 G a Q In June 17, 1947.

Patented June 17, 1947 ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM John Ernest Percival Burge, Coventry, England, assignor t Humber Limited, Stokes, Coventry,

England Application March 1, 1946, Serial No. 651,140 In Great Britain May 7, 1945 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a system of electrical distribution, for a production shop or the like, of the kind including busbars held in spaced relation from one another by insulating blocks which are spaced from one another along the busbars and are mechanically connected to a metal framework, the system being built up of similar sections of a convenient length, for example, 12 each, joined to one another. Such an arrangement is disclosed in patent specification No. 2,069,575.

The invention further relates to such a system of the kind in which the insulating blocks contain sockets connected with the busbars, so that fuse-containing supply boxes can be plugged into the sockets and held in position by bolts or the like detachable means in order to connect an out-going cable with the busbars just where required. Such an arrangement is also disclosed in patent specification No. 2,069,575.

According to application Serial No. 651,139, filed March 1, 1946, an electrical distribution system has four busbars, for three live phases and an insulated neutral, and the fuse-containing boxes have detachable fuses to be in circuit with terminals for the three live phases.

Although not limited in this respect the present invention particularly relates to a sectionalized distribution system when of the four-busbar kind last-mentioned.

The main object of the invention is to provide a very compact and light construction which will be all enclosed and which will have relatively-few detachable parts.

According to the invention, the metal framework of each separate section includes an inverted U--sectioned casing with the lower openings, between the socket-carrying blocks, substantially closed by plates extending between the blocks, and the plates carry screws or other means for the detachable support of fuse-containing supply boxes in co-operation with the blocks.

The term bushar is used herein to include not merely a rigid aluminium or copper bar. but also a stranded or other relatively-flexible conductor encased in flexible insulating material, which latter conductor (if expansion takes place due, for example. to an excessive overload bein car ried by it for a relatively-long time) can flex slightly between adjacent insulating blocks, where it is firmly held.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fi ure 1 is an elevation, with part of the U-shaoed casing shown in section. of a 12' section of electric distribution system according to the invention;

Figure 2 is an' elevation to a larger scale, with the U-shaped casings again in section, of the adjacent ends of two 12 sections of the system and the joint between the two; and

Figures 3 and i are cross-sections, to a still larger scale, taken On the lines 3-3 and 4-4 respectively, of Figure 2.

Figure 1 of the drawing shows a 12 section with six socket-carrying blocks l3, l3 spaced from one another at intervals of two feet and, for purposes of illustration, fuse-containing supply boxes M are shown as being plugged-in to four of the blocks. One end it of the section has the ends ll of the busbars extending from it to a greater extent than the ends l3 oi the busbars extend from the other end l9. At each end, I6, I9, is an insulating block 20, 2i, respectively, to which the U-sectioned casing 23 is secured by bolts 24 (Figure 1) engaged with bolt holes 25 (Figure 2). The blocks iii are in like manner connected to the U-sectioned casing 23 by means of bolts 2'5 passed through bolt holes 28.

As shown by Figure 3, there are four busbars 29 arranged in the form of a rectangle, three carrying live phases and the fourth being an insulated neutral.

Between each block l3 in a section is a closing plate 3i] extending between adjacent blocks l3, this plate being, as shown particularly by Figure 4, of flat channel section. Towards its ends it is raised, as indicated at 3|, and it is formed at its extremity with side cheeks 32 which are clamped against the adjacent blocks 13 by the through bolts 21 when the whole is assembled. Midway between its ends each cover plate has welded to it a strengthening tube 3d (Figures 2 and 4-), the ends of which are aligned with holes 7 35 in the channel flanges of the cover plate to receive through bolts 35 (Figure 1) which additionally secure the U-shaped casing 23 to the cover plates.

In Figure 2 the ends of each main section are marked l6 and i9 corresponding to the marking 1, and 31, 3! represents the employed in Figure adjacent ends of the two main casings 23. It will be observed that the bu'sbar ends l! are encased in insulating tubes 39. The joint between the busbar ends is indicated. in Figure 2 by the chain-line 45!, it being assumed that the husbar ends are co-planar. The busbar ends are bared to receive clamping means, not shown, and each clamping means is surrounded by an insulating tube H engaged at one end by an insulating plate 42, and at the other end by the block 2! in the manner disclosed in application Serial No. 651,141, filed March 1, 1946. The tubes 4i may be formed integrally as a moulding. They are axially located upon the insulating tubes 39 as shown by means of rubber rings 43.

Recesses are provided in the block 26 into which the insulating tubes 39 can be slid when grub screws 44, locating them with respect to the block 20, have been released, when it is desired to break the joint, and after the insulating tubes 4| have been slid back fully the clamps can be slid axially clear of the shorter-extending busbar ends [8. When the same operation has been carried out at the other end of a section the'section-ca-n be removed as a whole.

The joint is completed by a tie bar cover plate 45 which is in general similar to the cover plate 3ilexcept that it is of less length and itv carries three reinforcing tubes (like tube 34 of Figure 4) through which through bolts can be passed to connect it to the difierent casings. Thus, at each end there is a bolt hole 46 where a reinforcing tube is and Where it can be connected to the adjacent ends l6 and IQ of the main casings, and it has, additionally, holes at which it can be secured to the main casings by the bolts 24. Gem trally it has a tube-reinforced hole 47, and elsewhere other holes 49, at which it can be bolted to the inverted U-sectioned joint casing 50.

In the present instance, each of the main cover plates carries a bracket 52 beneath its upwardly-extending portion 3 l and the bracket has a pair of screw-threaded downwardly-extending pins which can receive wing nuts 53 by which the flanges 5c of the fuse-containing suppl boxes M can be supported in a detachable manner. When no fuse box i4 is required at any pluggin point 13, it is removed and the open ends of the sockets in the block I 3 in question are closed in, as shown at the left of Figure 2, by an insulating cover plate 56 formed with flanges 51 similar to those of the fuse boxes and adapted to be clamped by means of the same wing nuts 53. The two end socke carrying blocks 13 of each section are connected with only one main cover plate 30. Consequently, at the other end of each of these end blocks 13 there is provided, on each side, a fish-plate 59 to be retained by the means by which the cheeks 32 at the one end are retained. Each fish-plate 59 carries a bracket 63 similar to the bracket 52, the bracket 60 also having a pair of downwardly-extending screw-threaded pins to receive wing nuts 6| What I claim as m invention and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is:

1. For an electrica1 distribution system which includes a plurality of sections connected together, a section comprising a plurality of busbars, a plurality of insulating blocks supporting said busbarsin laterally-spaced relationship, said insulating blocks being spaced from one another along the busbars, a metal framework which includes a plurality of bottom plates, each of which extends between two adjacent insulatin blocks, and an inverted U-sectioned casing with the lower openings thereof, between said insulating blocks, substantially closed by said bottom plates, a mechanical connection between said insulating blocks and said framework so as to provide a rigid structure, a plurality f electrically conductive sockets, in each insulating block, respectively connected to said busbars, raised end portions to each bottom plate, and downwardly-extending pins on said raised portions, the said pins on the adjacent ends of any two contiguous bottom plates being adapted to pass through holes in side flanges of a fuse-containing supply box for en abling the latter to be detachably supported with the conductive plugs of the said box held entered into the respective sockets in the intervening insulating block.

2. A section, according to claim 1, in combination with an insulating cover plate for the sockets of each insulating block which is not intended, at any particular time, to support a fusecontaining supply box, the said pins serving also for enabling each cover plate to be held so as to close the sockets of the appropriate insulating block.

3. A section, for an electrical distribution system which includes a plurality of sections connected together, comprising a plurality of busbars, a plurality of insulating blocks supporting said busbars in laterally-spaced relationship, said insulating blocks being spaced from one another along the busbars, a metal framework which includes a plurality of bottom plates, each of which extends between two adjacent insulating blocks, and an inverted U-sectioned casing with the lower openings thereof, between said insulating blocks, substantially closed by said bottom plates, a mechanical connection between said insulating blocks and said frame-work so as to provide a rigid structure, a fish-plate secured to each side of each of the two said insulating blocks which are at the ends of the section, a bracket supported by the pair of fish-plates secured to each of said end blocks, and means carried by each of said brackets for the attachment of a bottom plate for mechanically connecting the said section to an adjacent section.

4. A section, for an electrical distribution system which includes a plurality of sections connected together, comprising a plurality of busbars, a plurality of insulating blocks supporting said busbars in laterally-spaced relationship, said insulating blocks being spaced from one another along the busbars, a metal framework which includes a plurality of channel-sectioned bottom plates, each of which extends between two ad jacent insulating blocks, and an inverted U-sectioned casing with the lower openings thereof, between said insulating blocks, substantially closed by said bottom plates, the side flanges of said casing straddling said bottom plates, bracing tubes extending between the side flanges of said bottom plates in alignment with holes therein, a mechanical connectionbetween said insulating blocks and said bottom plates, a mechanical connection between said casing and said insulating blocks, bolts passing through the side flanges of sa d casing and through said bracing tubes for holding said casing firmly t said bottom plates, a plurality of electrically conductive sockets in each insulating block, an electrical connection between each said socket and a respective busbar, and means for detachably supportin a fuse-com taining supply box to any two adjacent said bottom plates so that conductive plugs of the said box can be held entered into respective said sockets in the intervenin insulating block.

JOHN ERNEST PERCIVAL SURGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,043,796 Frank June 9, 1936 2,407,142 COle Sept. 3, 1946 1,995,855 Lee Mar. 26, 1935 

